Others moving in parabolic curves generally escape destruction, owing to their velocity.
Some very critical readers will perhaps imagine that this teaching, as to the cometary stage passed through by all heavenly bodies, is in contradiction with the statements just made as to the moon being the mother of the earth.
They will perhaps fancy that intuition is needed to harmonize the two.
But no intuition is in truth required.
What does Science know of Comets, their genesis, growth, and ultimate behaviour?
Nothing -- absolutely nothing!
And what is there so impossible that a laya centre -- a lump of cosmic protoplasm, homogeneous and latent, when suddenly animated or fired up -- should rush from its bed in Space and whirl throughout the abysmal depths in order to strengthen its homogeneous organism by an accumulation and addition of differentiated elements?
And why should not such a comet settle in life, live, and become an inhabited globe!
"The abodes of Fohat are many," it is said.
"He places his four fiery (electro-positive) Sons in the "Four circles"; these Circles are the Equator, the Ecliptic, and the two parallels of declination, or the tropics -- to preside over the climates of which are placed the Four mystical Entities.
Then again: "Other seven (sons) are commissioned to preside over the seven hot, and seven cold lokas (the hells of the orthodox Brahmins) at the two ends of the Egg of Matter (our Earth and its poles).
The seven lokas are also called the "Rings," elsewhere, and the "Circles." The ancients made the polar circles seven instead of two, as Europeans do; for Mount Meru, which is the North Pole, is said to have seven gold and seven silver steps leading to it.
The strange statement made in one of the Stanzas: "The Songs of Fohat and his Sons were radiant as the noon-tide Sun and the Moon combined;" and that the four Sons on the middle four-fold [[Vol.
1, Page]] 205 SEEING SOUND, HEARING COLOURS.
Circle " saw their father's songs and heard his Solar-selenic radiance;" is explained in the Commentary in these words: "The agitation of the Fohatic Forces at the two cold ends (North and South Poles) of the Earth which resulted in a multicoloured radiance at night, have in them several of the properties of Akasa (Ether) colour and sound as well." .
.
.
.
.
.
"Sound is the characteristic of Akasa (Ether): it generates air, the property of which is Touch; which (by friction) becomes productive of Colour and Light." .
.
.
.
.
.
(Vishnu Purana.) Perhaps the above will be regarded as archaic nonsense, but it will be better comprehended, if the reader remembers the Aurora Borealis and Australis, both of which take place at the very centres of terrestrial electric and magnetic forces.
The two poles are said to be the store-houses, the receptacles and liberators, at the same time, of Cosmic and terrestrial Vitality (Electricity); from the surplus of which the Earth, had it not been for these two natural "safety-valves," would have been rent to pieces long ago.
At the same time it is now a theory that has lately become an axiom, that the phenomenon of polar lights is accompanied by, and productive of, strong sounds, like whistling, hissing, and cracking.
(But see Professor Trumholdt's works on the Aurora Borealis, and his correspondence regarding this moot question.) ------- STANZA VI.
-- Continued.
7.
M AKE THY CALCULATIONS, O L ANOO, IF THOU WOULDST LEARN THE CORRECT AGE OF THY SMALL WHEEL ( chain ) .
I TS FOURTH SPOKE IS OUR MOTHER ( Earth ) ( a ) .
R EACH THE FOURTH "FRUIT" OF THE FOURTH PATH OF KNOWLEDGE THAT LEADS TO N IRVANA, AND THOU SHALT COMPREHEND, FOR THOU SHALT SEE ( b ) .
( a ) The "small wheel" is our chain of spheres, and the fourth spoke is our Earth, the fourth in the chain.
It is one of those on which the "hot (positive) breath of the Sun" has a direct effect.* [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The seven fundamental transformations of the globes or heavenly spheres, or rather of their constituent particles of matter, is described as follows: (1) The homogeneous; (2) the aeriform and radiant (gaseous); (3) Curd-like (nebulous); (4) Atomic , Ethereal [[Footnote continued on next page]] [[Vol.
1, Page]] 206 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
To calculate its age, however, as the pupil is asked to do in the Stanza, is rather difficult, since we are not given the figures of the Great Kalpa, and are not allowed to publish those of our small Yugas, except as to the approximate duration of these.
"The older wheels rotated for one Eternity and one half of an Eternity," it says.
We know that by "Eternity" the seventh part of 311,040,000,000,000 years, or an age of Brahma is meant.
But what of that?
We also know that, to begin with, if we take for our basis the above figures, we have first of all to eliminate from the 100 years of Brahma (or 311,040,000,000,000 years) two years taken up by the Sandhyas (twilights), which leaves 98, as we have to bring it to the mystical combination 14 x 7.
But we have no knowledge at what time precisely the evolution and formation of our little earth began.
Therefore it is impossible to calculate its age, unless the time of its birth is given -- which the TEACHERS refuse to do, so far.
At the close of this Book and in Book II., however, some chronological hints will be given.
We must remember, moreover, that the law of Analogy holds good for the worlds, as it does for man; and that as "The ONE (Deity) becomes Two (Deva or Angel) and Two becomes Three (or man)," etc., etc., so we are taught that the Curds (world-stuff) become wanderers, (Comets), these become stars, and the stars (the centres of vortices) our sun and planets -- to put it briefly.* ( b ) There are four grades of initiation mentioned in exoteric works, which are known respectively in Sanskrit as "Srotapanna," "Sagardagan," "Anagamin," and "Arhan" -- the four paths to Nirvana, in this, our fourth Round, bearing the same appellations.
The Arhan, though he can see the Past, the Present, and the Future, is not yet the highest Initiate; for the Adept himself, the initiated candidate, becomes chela (pupil) to a higher Initiate.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
Akasa (Ether) is described as a universal medium through which sound generates air, touch, colour, and light — a substantival transmitting medium cognate with the concept of the Great Magical Agent.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage explicitly states 'the law of Analogy holds good for the worlds, as it does for man,' directly invoking the Hermetic axiom that cosmic structure is reflected at every scale.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage centrally narrates the origin of worlds: 'Curds (world-stuff) become wanderers (Comets), these become stars, and the stars (the centres of vortices) our sun and planets,' with the seven fundamental transformations describing the staged formation of globes.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
Fohatic Forces are described as pervading the Earth's poles and climates, with the poles as 'store-houses, the receptacles and liberators' of Cosmic and terrestrial Vitality, indicating the divine as actively present within creation.
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
The 'Songs of Fohat' described as 'radiant as the noon-tide Sun and the Moon combined' and the 'Solar-selenic radiance' that the four Sons saw and heard evoke divine luminous quality as revelation.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
Fohat with his four fiery Sons and seven other sons presiding over different cosmic regions, plus 'The ONE becomes Two and Two becomes Three,' describe a cascading hierarchical structure of divine beings.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
The reference to 'the TEACHERS' who possess and selectively reveal knowledge implies a chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The Stanza commands 'Reach the fourth fruit of the fourth path of knowledge that leads to Nirvana, and thou shalt comprehend, for thou shalt SEE' — salvation through direct experiential knowledge rather than intellectual calculation.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage notes that 'the TEACHERS refuse to do, so far' regarding the precise time of Earth's birth, indicating esoteric knowledge reserved for those ready to receive it.
The ritual admission of an individual into esoteric knowledge or a sacred order through a formal rite of passage — testing, ordeal, or ceremony — marking a definite before/after threshold in the initiate's status and access. Distinct from hidden_sayings (the doctrine being concealed, not the rite of admission to it) and esoteric_lineage (the historical chain of transmission across generations, not a single individual's admission).
The passage explicitly describes four grades of initiation (Srotapanna, Sagardagan, Anagamin, Arhan) as 'the four paths to Nirvana' in this fourth Round, with the Arhan still becoming a chela to a higher Initiate.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The staged descent from homogeneous cosmic protoplasm through aeriform, curd-like, and atomic/ethereal stages to full materialization of globes describes a directional process of spirit unfolding into matter through successive planes.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The explicit statement that the law of Analogy holds for worlds as it does for man, with the progression ONE→Two→Three mapping Deity→Angel→man, makes the human the privileged mirror of cosmic structure.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The passage is saturated with numerological significance: 14 x 7, 100 years of Brahma, 311,040,000,000,000 years, four Sons, seven lokas, seven gold and seven silver steps, four circles, four spokes, four paths to Nirvana.
Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. Distinct from esoteric_lineage (a genealogical chain of individual transmission, not an institution) and hidden_sayings (the concealment of a teaching's meaning, independent of whether any organized body holds it).
The 'TEACHERS' who collectively withhold certain chronological data and control the disclosure of esoteric knowledge function as an organized body holding keys to hidden wisdom.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The 'homogeneous and latent' cosmic protoplasm (laya centre) from which all differentiated elements accumulate implies an underlying single substance from which multiplicity emerges.
A vertical structure connecting cosmic levels — a tree, pillar, mountain, or ladder linking heaven, earth, and underworld around which the cosmos is organised. Yggdrasil binding the Nine Worlds in Norse cosmology, the Kalevala's Sampo as world-pillar, the Mayan ceiba, the Vedic Aśvattha, the shamanic central tree of Eliade's analyses. Cosmic-structural in character: distinct from sefirot_tree (a kabbalistic emanation diagram) and emanation_hierarchy (an ontological cascade); world_tree_axis is the cosmos's spine rather than the divine's outflow.
Mount Meru as the North Pole with seven gold and seven silver steps leading to it, and the polar circles as structural axes connecting cosmic levels, form a vertical axis organizing the cosmos.